Bob Flanagan & Sheree Rose

Bob Flanagan aka “Super Masochist”

Suffered from Cystic Fibrosis

Facts On CF

Hereditary Condition affecting body’s mucus production

Most people don’t live past 30Very difficult to manageChronic Pain

A Thief Of Life

1980’s

Gender Liberation

“ I was wearing a blond wig and false, huge breasts. He had a blood-splattered face that was painted white. So we were play-acting our roles from the moment we met. Neither of us suspected, at that point, what our relationship would be. We just knew that we were kindred spirits and wanted to be together. “

Sexual freedomArt and Punk scenes

Sadomasochism as Art and Medicine

Bob came to Sheree looking to be a slave and they began performing their artistic, sexual and therapeutic performances together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgWyxjjecOw

“He told me he was a submissive man. He wanted to serve a woman and anything she told him to do. I was very intrigued by this idea. I had been divorced for three years and was quite bored with the conventional men I has been meeting. We mutually decided to give it a go. For a short period of time-three months. We had a routine. He would make love to me whenever and however I wanted. He would cook and clean the house, run errands, do anything I asked him to do. It was heaven. I was interested in more than s/m games in the bedroom. I wanted to make a political statement as well. Women could find fulfillment with a truly submissive man…outside the bedroom as well as in it. As the months went on, we both worked on our "roles”. We developed a way of relating that was entirely our own. I had been photographing my family for years, so it seemed natural to begin photographing bob every day…especially when we were doing some sort of s/m scene. Thus, our artistic collaboration grew out of the lives we were living. At the time, I didn't think much about what we would do with this artistic endeavor. I just wanted to have a record of all the interesting things we were doing. Bob loved the camera. He loved to be the center of attention. He loved to be on stage. It became a habit for me to always have my camera with me, and to photograph whatever was going on that I felt was interesting. This continued for sixteen years…till the day bob died. So, in that sense, our lives and our art were the same. I always knew bob would die young-… his cystic fibrosis was a death sentence, and we never knew when it would come. Originally, I was told he would live no more than two years…so a sense of urgency always was there. As our world expanded from private s/m to public shows given all over the world… I always felt he was performing for me, to please me, and to give the world a glimpse of the way we lived.”